Press Releases

Telensa part of CityVerve consortium awarded £10m to make Manchester the UK’s IoT Demonstrator

29 January 2016.

World leader in smart lighting joins multi-sector team to help showcase how Internet of Things will create the smart cities of tomorrow

Cambridge, UK, 10th December 2015: Telensa, the world’s leading provider of smart street lighting using its low power Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) wireless technology, today announced that it is part of the CityVerve Consortium in Manchester selected for a £10m government award.

Established to showcase the transformational impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities, the project will involve the creation of a UK IoT Centre of excellence to demonstrate how technology can improve urban life. It will provide a scalable model that can be replicated in other cities in the UK and beyond.

The CityVerve project is made up of a number of innovative elements, including respiratory healthcare, community wellness, talkative bus stops, smart lighting, bike sharing and smart air quality monitoring.

UK-based Telensa is the world leader in smart street lighting and its networks and applications wirelessly control 1 in every 10 streetlights in the UK. In CityVerve, the company joins a broad multi-sector team from academia and from the private and public sectors: led by Manchester City Council, and including Cisco, BT and the Manchester Universities.When street lights are connected via a city’s own low-cost wireless network, they can adapt to local conditions in real-time and become ready-made hubs for thousands of sensors. These “light area networks” can provide the detailed ultra-local data needed to help cities make better operational decisions. The city’s wireless network meanwhile can be harnessed for countless applications from smart parking to social care.

“We’re delighted to be part of Manchester’s winning CityVerve consortium, working alongside a diverse range of world-class organisations,” said Will Gibson, CEO Telensa.“Ultimately Smart Cities are about affordable technology working behind the scenes to improve people’s everyday lives. I’m confident that CityVerve will create a global showcase for IoT innovation and excellence in Manchester.”

The UK Government information on the Manchester CityVerve project can be found here.